“You often need to wait for those unique synchronised moments that are so special,” he said. “It really pays off to wait around and go back to the location several times.”

Many of Heijnen’s photos explore the relationship between the cats and their owners. The series has gone viral globally: it has been featured on popular blogs, in newspapers such as The Guardian and by broadcasters such as China’s CCTV and Al Jazeera. Heijnen’s Instagram account is also approaching 17,000 followers.

Heijnen explained the advantages of adopting a flexible approach and not being weighed down by too much equipment.

“If you don’t get in the way, people are usually OK,” he said. “Try to travel light, without a lot of equipment and blend into the scene yourself.”

Heijnen told students how he started by taking a few photos of cats and uploading them to Facebook, but then realised he needed to develop a series rather than post occasional photos that might be nice individually.

“Never work with children or animals,” the saying goes, but students at the JMSC recently learned how to do just that and make a successful living from it. Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen―who has been photographing […]

Dutch photojournalist and visiting JMSC lecturer, Kees Metselaar, will give a talk about his 25 years of photojournalism in Asia. The talk, called Dutch Eyes, 25 years of photojournalism in Asia, will be held on Friday, […]